“Take Control” – of your health, your happiness, your life! My motto in a nutshell.

Indeed, some things we can’t control – like the air we breathe outside (my husband’s company sells fans and air purifiers, so I’ve got to believe air quality indoors is under our control). Yes, this ongoing haze in Singapore is frustrating, like the smog experienced in many cities year round.

But lets count our blessings. The quality of life in Singapore is second to none most of the time, and in the 5 years I’ve been fortunate to live here, it’s been a great mix of blue skies, and tropical weather with the occasional exciting thunder storms thrown in.

While we can sit back and curse the haze, it will soon pass and hopefully measures will be taken so it doesn’t return longer-term. However, while it remains, we do need to exercise whatever methods we can to protect the health of our loved ones and ourselves.

Rather than reinvent the wheel here, I turned to my extremely knowledgeable friend in all things holistic – Ceri Wolf at Zenxin Organic. Ceri has lived in Singapore for 21 years, so she has experienced quite a few episodes of haze. She has written many helpful articles on how to best protect us from its side effects.

Sharing with permission, Ceri’s top tips during Hazy Days are:

Increase Fluid Intake: Haze contains ultra-fine particles that enter into our respiratory system and cause allergic reactions (itchy throat, runny nose, scratchy eyes). Thankfully, this can be flushed out by drinking enough pure filtered water. Increase your daily intake to as much as 3 litres.

Mulberry Tea Leaf: Enhances fluid absorption and fortifies your body with antioxidants, polyphenols and flavonoids do. Rich in minerals, beta-carotene, vitamin C and B vitamin group, mulberry leaf tea soothes and strengthens the lung and liver

Lemon: Lemon packs a punch with loads of vitamin C and pectin, which helps keep cancer at bay. It also removes heavy metals from your body while retaining important trace minerals. Organic lemon goes one step further by completely banishing cancerous pesticides and fungicides from its journey from farm to shelf.

Sweet Potato: Rich in β-Carotene which helps protect your eyes and mucous membranes, and forms your first line of defence against the haze, it's also packed with the immune boosters B-complex and C vitamins. Research even suggests increasing β-Carotene from 1.7-2.7mg/day reduces lung cancer risk by 40%! Just the food you need to support your health in these times.

Turmeric: Curcumin is the anti-inflammatory antioxidant found in turmeric, an important ingredient of curry and nasi kuning. This beautiful yellow spice, long used in TSM and Ayurveda treatments and medication, is now known to inhibit tumour growth and destroy mutated cancer cells. Taken in moderation during this hazy period, it can help stave off infections and discomfort, not to mention helping control your appetite.

Ginger: Ginger helps to reduce inflammation and expel toxins from the body. It soothes irritation of the mucus lining in the nasal passages and the throat caused by the fine particles in the haze. Ginger tea is a great way to not only clear up that pesky ticklish throat and congested sinus, but also its warming properties soothe your lethargic digestive system.

Thank you, Ceri, for sharing your wisdom! Just happens that my favourite tea is freshly sliced ginger & turmeric, with freshly squeezed lemon juice! Now I’ve a great excuse to make some sweet potato fries, baked in olive oil, of course.

Note: all above are available at Zenxin Organic stores and online.

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